As we walked out toward the bridge we came upon a observation walkway which extended out over the canyon.  I would have walked out to the end of this windswept point but somebody had to take the picture, so Laura had all the fun for me. During the construction, the handling of the individual  wires comprising the main cables was accomplished by means of power drawn carriers operating over haulage cables, suspended along each side of the bridge.  Twenty-five per cent of the wire was stored near each anchorage.  Each reel, placed in a ball-bearing rotating table equipped with suitable brake devices, was unwound as its wire was pulled across the canyon and the previously prepared anchor loop was released from the carrier and deposited over its anchor pipe. Hand operated grab lines, dropped from each tower apex, lifted each wire over the saddles and tension adjustments were then made in the following sequences: first, between the anchor pipe just mentioned and the adjustment tower; second between this tower and midspan; third, between midspan and the second tower; and lastly between the second tower and the final attachment to a pipe anchor. The one inch wire ropes, which were originally strung to the catenary, served as templates for the stringing of wire strands, and remained as the core of the finished cable.  Anchoring of the main cables constitutes an interesting feature of the structure.  This was accomplished by first trenching the solid granite on the same inclination as the backstays for a distance of approximately 75 feet and to a maximum depth of 25 feet.  In the bottom of this rock trench, which was roughly 4 feet wide, two lines of holes 18 inches apart were drilled to receive sections of 2 inch pipe which were 3 feet long.  There are 100 pipes grounded into each trench.  After fastening 21 wires to each pipe, a 1/4 inch reinforcing bar was inserted and also grounded.  These bars were allowed to extend approximately to the top of the trench.  As a final operation the trench was filled with concrete.  By far, for me, the most dramatic part of this hanging masterpiece was the floor, mainly because it is made of wood planks with not all of them bolted down.  The planks which measure some 18 feet across are suspended from the cables at 10-foot intervals with 11 inch suspender rods supporting the I-beams.  Walking across gave me an excellent view of the river canyon below, through the large separation of some of the boards.  Yuck, I hate heights!  Right when I got just about to the middle of the thing, it began to shudder and then shake.  I grabbed onto the side wall and stood there looking around for what was causing this vibrating distraction.  Boy! was I surprised when I saw a medium size school bus driving onto the bride and coming right at me. The bridge shuttle runs back and forth about every 15 minutes, giving rides to those who either can't or won't walk over to the other side.  It is quite an experience to be in the middle when the bus passes by. We could have also driven our car across as many do.  Once the bridge was finished and opened, the city fathers looked for other ways to attract visitors.  There was also a desire to put the local bridge workers, now out of work, back to work.  In 1930 an Incline Railroad was started.  Using the same people that built the bridge, a section next to the bridge was evened out to support a rail car system which would descend to the canyon floor and the river below. When finished it became the worlds steepest  incline railway. We decided that in order to cover this vehicle in all its proper perspectives one of us would ride down to the bottom while the other filmed from the top.  I immediately elected Laura for the ride down (:-).  I found a spot on a cross-over observation ramp where the tram left from and settled down with the chipmunks to watch the adventure.  The tram consisted of several small stand up cars with wire screen all around except directly in front of where Laura was standing. Upon her return, Laura described her experience as quite enjoyable.  The train moves very slowly.  Probably not more then 5 miles per hour.  The rock face on both sides show the scars of those who cut their way down to build the track. There is a small landing at the bottom where she was able to stand and watch the river gliding by.  
LAURA: The trip down the incline railway was fantastic. Although the incline was very steep, the cars, being moved by a cable, were able to move slowly. It was a trip that I certainly wouldn't want to do on foot. We traveled through a trough cut in the rocks, and at the bottom I could look up at the bottom of the great bridge, high above. The trip up was very nice and I got a different view of the incline as I went up. 

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